Lock for automobiles.



A. A. BENNETT. LOCK FOR AUTOMOBILES.

APPLIGATION FILED JUNE 19, 1913 Patented Sept. 30, 1913.

[mew $673? oil to show the look more clearly. Fig. 2

ALBERT AUSTIN BENNETT, LOS ANGELES, CALTFORNIA.

LOCK ronAuroMonILns.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 19, 913. Serial No. 774,710.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ALBERT AUSTIN BEN- NETT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented a new and useful Lock for Automobiles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to looks for automobiles and particularly to those which have the ear shift and reverse levers' operated by the eet as in the well known Ford car.

The principal object of my .invention is to provide means whereby theselevers may be locked. When these levers are so lockedit is impossible to connect the engine with the 7 driving wheels as the gears are out of mesh.

Ftlrther objects and advantages will appeaf hereinafter.

Referring to the annexed drawing which is for illustrative purposes only: Figure 1 is a general perspective view of the lock applied to the gear levers of a Ford automobile, the brake lever being shown broken a sectional elevation on the line w m of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows. .Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the locking plate.

My invention is illustrated as applied to an automobile body 1 having a floor 2 provided with an inclined'portion 3 through j Ford automobile above referred to.

'1 this lever is broken off to allow the parts Whichlevers 4 and 5 project. The. opening through the floor has a plate 6 placed thereon. A lever 7 for operating the brake is also commonly provided especially in the In Fig.

beyond to be more clearly seen.. All these levers operate about a shaft 8 placed below the 'floor 3 of the automobile 1.

My invention is especially adapted to lock the levers 4 and 5. It may be extended to lock the lever 7 if desired but as this lever commonly actuates the brake I do not find that such locking is desirable. For example: if an automobile provided with my invention be left in a position needed urgently,

for example, by the fire department, it is possibleto release the brake and move the automobile to another location by'appllcation of external power.

invention resides particularly in a shaped locking plate 10. This plate may be-made of cast or punched metal, the drawings illustrating a punching or stamping. This plate 10 has an upper end y peculiarly levers, a locking 11 which may be semicircular as shown or' of any general shape desired In this end 1s a locking slot 12. This slot is of such a size that it fits closely about a staple 13 which is secured to the .plate 6. A padlock 14 having a hasp 15 adapted'to snap through thestaple 13 is provided.

The lowerportion of the plate 10 has a peculiarly shaped slot therein. This slotconsists of a gear lever opening having an upper wall 21 and a lower wall 22. In open communication with the gear lever opening 20 is an intermediate slot 23 formed between the gear opening wall 22 and an intermedi ate slot upper wall 24. The intermediate slot 23 is in open communication-with an entering slot 25. This entering slot-has a portion 26 formed with an..upper-wall 27 and a side wall 28 which fornis an opening for the reverse gear lever 5.

The method of application of this locking plate to an automobile is as follows: The plate 10 is taken in the hand and the lever 4 is slipped. into the slot 20 through the slots and. 23. When it arrives in the slot 20 the reverse lever 5 is in place in the slot 26. I The plate 10 is then forced down until the staple 13 projects through the slot '12 in the plate 10 and the hasp 15 of the padlock 14 is snapped in place. The plate then is in the position shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2. When in this position the levers 4 and 5 are securely locked for the following reasons:

'The lever 4 is in its central position and in this position neither the high or low gear is engaged. The plate 10 being secured by the lock 14 against any-movement parallel to the floor of the car the wall 21 prevents a movement of the lever 5 in one direction and the Wall 22 prevents a movement in the opposite direction. Since the angle formed by the lever 4, and the upperportion 11 of the plate 10 is an acute one, the lever 4 projects over the plate and the engagement of the wall 21 with the lever 4 prevents the plate 10 being lifted. The plate 10 is therefore securely locked in place. The lever 5 which is pressed upwardly to throwthe reverse gear into action is in its lower or disengaged position and the wall 27 of the slot 26 prevents this gear from being engaged. I claim as my invention:

-1. In combination with. an automobile having separate forward and reverse gear for securing said forward and reverse gear Patented. Sept. 30, 1913.

plate provided with walls leversiii the disengaged positions, and lock- Tug-means 'forsecuring said locking plate to .,1e ,e r,, is in the; disengaged 'lockin'g means for securing sai automobile.

3,;"In' combination with an ;liaving"'separate forward and reverse gear jlevers5a locking plate having a locking slot the automobile.

2. In combination with an automobile having separate forward and reverse gear levers, a locking plate having an opening fitting about said forward gear lever when said forward gear lever is in the disengaged position and a wall fitting against the reverse gear lever when said reverse gear position, and

plate to the automobile therein and a slot adapted to lock the forward lever and the reverse lever in the disengaged positions, a staple secured to the automobile so placed as a to pass through said locking slot, and a padlock having a hasp adapted to engage said staple above said plate and thereby prevent the removal of said plate.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Los Angeles, California, this 13th day of June, 1913.

ALBERT AUSTIN BENNETT.

In presence of- I FRED A. MANSFIELD, FORD W. HARRIS. I 

